Slides

1. POL 205
Spring 2018

3.  Who votes –and who doesn’t?
 What makes people vote the way they do?
 Why don’t people vote?

4.  Age Older >Younger
 Gender Women > Men
 Income Richer > Poorer
 Education College Degree > HS Graduate
 Race and Ethnicity Mixed Evidence

7. SOCIOLOGICALTHEORY
 Importance of
Social Context
 Partisanship of Family
and Friends
 Impact of Socio-
Economic Status (SES)
and Religion
PSYCHOLOGICALTHEORY
 Political Socialization
 Party ID
 Political Attitudes
 Voting Decision
 How are attitudes
formed?

8.  Voting based on past performance
 If you are the incumbent:
 Remember great things?
 “Are you better off than you were four years ago?”
 If you are the challenger:
 Remember problems?
 “Are you better off than you were four years ago?”

9.  Voting based off of future considerations
 If you are the incumbent:
 Plans for a new term if re-elected
 What will future look like with challenger?
 If you are the challenger:
 Reject incumbent’s policies
 Vote for change in years ahead

11.  Based on costs and benefits
 Voting Components:
 Probability ofVote Mattering (“P)
 Benefits ofVoting (“B”)
 Costs ofVoting (“C”)
 “Civic Duty” (“D”)
 Individuals weigh these items
and make their voting decision

12. POCKETBOOKVOTING SOCIOTROPICVOTING

14. Citizens’ political
knowledge hasn’t increased
in the last few decades.

15.  Party ID (#1)
 Is candidate a Republican or a Democrat?
 Interpersonal Communications
 Friends and Family; “Opinion Leaders”
 The Media
 Agenda-Setting, Priming, and Framing
 Idea of “Representativeness”
 People compare actual candidate to “ideal” version

17.  Legal Obstacles
 Attitude Changes
 Voter Mobilization
 Decrease in Social Connectedness
 Generational Changes
 The “Rational Nonvoter”